We made our way down the dirt trail in the woods, our arms too full to swat at the mosquitoes swarming around every exposed bit of skin. The gear was heavy, but not unmanageable. It would be a late night, but this was the perfect outside-the-box learning opportunity. We were going to help some scientists capture bats and record data.

Of course, we couldn’t actually touch the bats. But we could set up mist nets, monitor them, disinfect the tools between bats, calculate weight, and record the information.

To me, this is what homeschooling is all about. It’s about finding unique opportunities, encouraging our children’s interests, and supplementing book learning with hands-on experiences.

What are your children’s interests?

“Do not train children to learn by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”

Plato

As a homeschool mom, knowing your child’s interests is crucial. My oldest daughter loves nature and the outdoors. My middle daughter loves drawing and animation. My youngest daughter loves botany and art. What are your children’s interests? What do they like to learn about? How do they like to play? What are their natural gifts and abilities?

How can you encourage those interests?

When my youngest daughter expressed an interest in botany, we gave her a wildflower guide. She took it everywhere last summer and looked up every trailside and ditch-dwelling flower she could find. When it was time for the fall fair, we took her to a nearby hiking area so she could pick a wildflower bouquet to enter. When winter hit, we brought her to the tropical greenhouse. I bought her botany curriculum (twice!) and an indoor greenhouse and grow lights.

Are there ways to encourage your children’s interests that are easy to incorporate into everyday life? One of the most beautiful things about home education is that we can facilitate interest-based learning. We’re not bound by provincial/state curriculum. We’re not even bound by the textbooks and programs we buy from the store. We’re free to colour outside the lines. As Robert John Meehan said, “Everything we do as teachers must ensure that the child’s inherent desire to learn is kept alive.” How can you encourage your child’s interests?

“Everything we do as teachers must ensure that the child’s inherent desire to learn is kept alive.”

Robert John Meehan

What opportunities are available in your area?

When I received an email about the volunteer opportunity involving bat capture and release, I immediately asked if my thirteen-year old could come along. She was ecstatic when they said yes. She handed us ropes and carabiners as we set up mist nets, used the calculator to figure out the net weight of the bats, and disinfected the scale, light, and calipers. As we head into her last year of homeschooling before high school, I can’t help but rue the fact that she will never have the opportunity to sit down with real-life scientists and participate in their research once she’s in school and working.

We’re blessed to live in a thriving area with homeschool film classes taught at a professional film school, a plethora of art and drawing courses, a martial arts school with daytime offerings, historical sites galore, athletics opportunities, homeschool swimming lessons, a tropical greenhouse, environmental organizations with fantastic citizen science opportunities, galleries, museums, and more.

What outside-the-box learning opportunities are available in your area? What outside-the-box opportunities can you create?

Interest-led learning matters

While you wouldn’t want to send your child to university having never written an essay, there should always be room for interest-led learning. Daniel Clarence Quinn, author and cultural critic, said:

“The people who are horrified by the idea of children learning what they want to learn when they want to learn it have not accepted the very elementary psychological fact that people (all people, of every age) remember the things that are important to them – the things they need to know – and forget the rest.”

We remember the things that are important to us.

Find out what is important to your child and make room for those things. Dare to do things differently, to step outside the box. The things your children learn will be imprinted on their memories forever.